I admit it: I hadn’t really heard the Charles Smith story until I read about him on the blog of a Canadian friend, Nicole, even though I’d run into a couple of the wines (one stocked by Virgin Wines, and one by Wholefoods). How could I have missed him? What a back story! He seems [...]

Tried these rather lovely wines from the Okanagan Valley in Canada, and thought they deserved a write-up, even though they might be hard to find. You heard it here folks: Canada deserves to be taken seriously for both Riesling and Syrah.

After judging the Roederer Awards on Tuesday, we repaired to Chez Buce, where – naturally – we popped a couple of bottles of Roederer’s Cristal. This was followed up with some other gems from the Roederer portfolio (they own MMD, who distribute Roederer and other wines in the UK). Yes, these bottles were a little [...]

I had a lot of fun at yesterday’s Great Riesling tasting in London. There were so many good wines. But of all, perhaps my favourite (of many lovely wines) was a Kiwi Riesling from Framingham. And, the irony is, that because this is 6.5% alcohol, the EU won’t allow it to be imported, which is [...]

On my first night in Canada a group of friends gathered to share some nice wines. I think they deserve a write-up, although – as usual – notes and scores do little to capture the specialness of wines shared with good people.

After a full day of tasting, and the fabulous helicopter ride, it was time for beer. So Bill Zacharkiw and John Szabo, my partners in crime (PICs), ended up in an English-style pub in Niagara-on-the-Lake, along with Magdalena Kaiser-Smit of Wine Country Ontario. It’s called The Olde Angel Inn, and as well as English beers [...]

So my second day in Canada was dominated by Niagara Riesling. I tagged along with Canadian wine journalists Bill Zacharkiw and John Szabo. We had extensive tastings, first at Vineland, where we did Riesling verticals from Vineland, Tawse, Flat Rock and Cave Spring, and then at Stratus, where we did the same with Strauts, Charles [...]

So I arrived in Canada yesterday afternoon and headed down to Pearl Morissette winery in Jordan, Niagara, where I am staying for a couple of nights. A few friends joined from Toronto, and we had a great in-depth tasting with Francois Morissette in the winery.
Francois [...]